Updating Hash from a config file

[Viki@Stag]

I have a configuration file filled with some config vars & values, it looks more like this

[section_name]
var=value
var=value
...

[section_name]
var=val
var=val
...

I have to parse this file & fill a hash var. I have a script to do this, but it does not work in some conditions when the new lines of the config file changes(ex: if i remove a blank line).
dont know y it happens, i need suggestion to improve my code so that it is robust...

Thanks in advance

it will update the hash in this fashion:
hash = (
section_name_0 => val,
section_name_1 => val,
...
);
The keys will have section_name followed by 0 1 2... After each section the count resets to 0(zero) & so on.

Here is the code

sub UpdateConfigHash {

    $config_file = $ENV{'CONFPATH'};

    open( CONFFILE, $config_file ) || die "$!\n";
    my @config_file_contents = <CFILE>;
    my $abs_path_section_flag = 0;
    my $section_flag = 0;
    my $section_name = "";
    my $config_files_line = "";
    my $config_files_line_ind = 0;

    while ( defined( $config_file_contents[$config_files_line_ind] ) )
+ {
        $config_files_line = $config_file_contents[$config_files_line_
+ind];
        trim_clean( $config_files_line );

        if ( $config_files_line =~ /^(\s*)#/ ) {
            $config_files_line_ind++;
            next;
        }
        if ( $config_files_line =~ /^(\s*)$/ ) {
            $config_files_line_ind++;
            next;
        }
        if ( $config_files_line =~ /^(\d+)$/ ){
            $global_settings{"comm_port"} = $&;
            $config_files_line_ind++;
            next;
        }
        if ( $config_files_line =~ /^\[abs_paths\]/ ) {
            $abs_path_section_flag = 1;
            $section_flag = 0;
            $config_files_line_ind++;
            next;
        }
        if ( $config_files_line =~ /^\[(\w+)\]/  ) {
            $section_name = $1;
            $abs_path_section_flag = 0;
            $section_flag = 1;
            $section_index = 0;
            $config_files_line_ind++;
            next;
        }
        if ( $abs_path_section_flag == 1 &&  $section_flag == 0 ) {
            # indicates abs_paths is on
            my @temp = split( /=/, $config_files_line );
            trim_clean (\$temp[0]);
            trim_clean (\$temp[1]);
            $global_settings{ $temp[0] } = $temp[1];
            $config_files_line_ind++;
            next;
        }
        if ( $abs_path_section_flag == 0 &&  $section_flag == 1 ) {
            # indicates a section ( not abs_paths )
            my @temp = split( /=/, $config_files_line );
            trim_clean (\$temp[0]);
            trim_clean (\$temp[1]);
            $global_settings{ $section_name . "_" . $section_index } =
+ $temp[1];
            $section_index++;
            $config_files_line_ind++;
            next;
        }
    }
}

[siva kumar]

Try this..

use Config::Simple;
$Config={};
$confFile = "path/to/conf/file.conf";
Config::Simple->import_from($confFile,$Config);

print $Config->{"section_nameX.varX"};
print $Config->{"section_nameY.varY"};

[BerntB]

You are aware of Config::Simple and others that support that kind of format? (Init-files on Win, right?)

[toolic]

Regarding requests for suggestions to improve your code's robustness...

My guess is that you are probably not using the strictures, since $config_file is not declared with my (at least, not in your sub):

use warnings;
use strict;

When accessing an environment variable, it is a good practice to test if it is defined. If it is not defined, you could either die (as shown below), or assign it a default value:

my $config_file = (defined $ENV{'CONFPATH'}) ? 
                  $ENV{'CONFPATH'} :
                  die "Error: CONFPATH not defined.\n";

Should <CFILE> really be <CONFFILE>?

It is also a good practice to close a filehandle when you are done.

These tips probably do not solve your specific problem, but hopefully they are small steps toward more robust code.

[Viki@Stag]

Thanks for the suggestions...

And also i Will try using Config::Simple, it appears to be compatible with the structure of my config file...

Thank you Monks

[Sinistral]

I haven't closely examined your code, but considering the ultimate task at hand (reading a configuration file), perhaps you would be very interested in Config::General or Config::Generic ?